It’s easy to remove old kernels in Ubuntu. You can do it from the command line using the following command:

sudo apt-get autoremove --purge

Note that this command will only remove kernels that a) are no longer needed and b) were installed from the Ubuntu archive through system updates. If you install kernels manually or through a third-party PPA you’ll need to get your hands dirty.

3. Uninstall Apps & Games You Never Use (And Be Honest!)

Chances are you have a number of apps installed that you never use. Maybe you installed them on the back of an awesome review, out of nosiness, or to handle a particular task.

Whatever the excuse, if an app is no longer needed, but more space is, don’t be afraid to uninstall it.

Typical apps you may wish to expunge include web browsers (are you ever going to use Opera, Epiphany, Midori and Min?), music players (heck knows there’s enough of ’em) and games that sounded good in the Steam Store description but ended up being as much fun as a Windows 10 update combo.

And everyone has LibreOffce Draw knocking about doing nothing!

Don’t lie to yourself about might-needs, and could-dos. The beauty of most software is that it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. This is never truer than on Linux, where most apps are just an aptinstall command away.

To remove a specific app by name run:

sudo apt-get remove package-name1 package-name2

To remove packages and dependencies that are no longer required (because you’ve uninstalled other packages or newer versions have replaced them) run the following command:

sudo apt-get autoremove

4. Use A System Cleaner like BleachBit

Writing a list on system cleaning could easily end up 10x as long as this one if we were to tell you about every app, cache, log and system process hiding in every nook and cranny.

BleachBit saves us from doing that. It’s like the CCleaner of Linux – a byte scouring beast. The app can remove pretty much everything and anything and should only ever be used with caution.

It can wipe the caches of more than 70 popular desktop applications (including most web browsers); hoovers up old file, browser and bash history; and makes light work of logs you’ll never read.

No surprise that we recommend installing it as one of our things to do after installing Ubuntu.

You can install BleachBit on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS straight from Ubuntu Software. Run it as root, and check the boxes besides the parts you’d like to clean. Click ‘Preview’ to get an estimate of how much space they take up, and click “Clean” to remove them.

5. Stay up to date (seriously, do it!)

The most obvious step on this list is also the one few people would think to recommend. Unlike Windows, where every new update adds more overhead, package updates on Linux regularlyfreespace rather than use it.

So next time you put off that 56MB librandom-package102 update fearing you’ll lose space, maybe think again!

Summary

That just about covers it. If you only remember two steps from this list make it the first and last.

Clean your apt cache from time-to-time

Install patches, updates, and fixes

Now go and free some space!

Let us know how much you manage to claw back (as well as share your own top space-saving tips) in the comments! To see more articles like this from Scott, share the love by sharing this article on social media.